Sunday, 14 August 2011

Key factors affecting the preparation and delivery of online news.

The story was written by the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin during the flooding in North Queensland before the inland Tsunami and cyclone that were to batter the state later in the month. One of the key facts included in the story read:

30,000 pigs swept away in flood.

According to ABC Media Watch, a correction was printed the next day, explaining that the wording was meant to be 30 sows and pigs. But the damage was done - although in this case there was nothing in the story that could have created a legal issue for the paper, many laughs were enjoyed upon reading the article and correction.

It's not every day that an exclusive story becomes available to the average online news outlet; most stories break fast, with information pouring in and forcing the journalist to sift and then try and present a piece that's unique from all the competition.

With an exclusive story, unless there is extremely time sensitive information, it's often possible to double check key facts and sources. With a story that's already been picked up by every other media outlets, it's often easy for a writer to get sloppy and fail to fully research a story in favour of getting it out before anyone else.
The whole news team must work as a group to ensure accuracy in a story, with the writers and editors all having to do their part to check for errors.

About the AuthorSusannah is a Journalism student at USQ. This is her final journalism course to complete her diploma. She is currently working on her first book and works online, mainly building websites. You can find out more about her at her personal website.